Our Tier 3 Weight Assessment and Management Service (WAMS) is currently closed to new referrals.
Please speak to your GP to discuss your treatment options.
All existing patients who have been referred and accepted into the service before its closure are unaffected and will continue to be seen and treated. Our Tier 4 Bariatric Service is also unaffected and continues to accept referrals. The following information is for existing patients of the WAMS service.
We deliver a specialist ‘Weight Assessment and Management Service’ (WAMS). We are based at Southmead Hospital in Bristol. Our service is for people with complex obesity. The WAMS team provides medical and lifestyle weight management support for a 6-12 month period. We also help people prepare for weight loss surgery.
The team includes:
- Consultant physicians
- Counselling / Clinical psychologists
- Assistant psychologists
- Dietitians
- Admin team
- Pharmacist
- Bariatric clinical nurse specialist
The aims of WAMS include:
- To help you lose weight and improve your health and wellbeing.
- To help you manage your health conditions; for example, diabetes.
- To help you make healthier lifestyle choices; be more active and have a better relationship with food.
- To help you prepare for weight loss surgery.
We offer group work online and one-to-one work, online or in person.
After 6 -12 months in our service, we will explore what to do next. This may include:
- To discharge you back to your GP’s care.
- To offer you another intervention within our weight management service.
- To refer you for weight loss surgery. The surgeons will then see you to decide if surgery is possible and safe.
If you are unable to come to an appointment or a group session, please tell us as soon as possible. We may then be able to offer this appointment to someone else.
WAMS Assessment Clinics
Your first appointment will be at Southmead Hospital, Bristol, where you will meet the consultant.
You will also have a dietetic assessment with the dietitian. This could be on the same day, or on a different day.
The dietitian assessment could either be on the phone or in person.
Some people may require an assessment with the psychologist on a different day.
In the clinic we will ask you about how your weight is affecting you. We will ask about your mood, and your relationship with food. We will also check for possible causes for obesity. We will help you manage your other health conditions. We may arrange blood or other tests, if needed. We will explore your goals and discuss treatment options with you. We will then discuss your circumstances, or all the information gathered in these meetings with the multi-disciplinary team to ensure a plan is offered that meets your needs.
